Eyewitnesses from Nineveh: “The scene is frightening, the sound of groaning is everywhere, and the h

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[size=52]Eyewitnesses from Nineveh: “The scene is frightening, the sound of groaning is everywhere, and the health systems cannot bear the huge numbers of infected people.”[/size]

[size=45]Eyewitnesses from Nineveh to the BBC: “The scene is frightening, the sound of groaning is everywhere, and the health systems cannot bear the huge numbers of infected people.”
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Susana Qassous
More than 100 people were killed and more than 150 others were injured, at dawn on Wednesday, after a fire broke out during a wedding party in one of the... Wedding halls in Nineveh Governorate, northern Iraq, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Health.
Eyewitnesses told the BBC from the site of the event about the moment the fire broke out during the wedding:
Ahmed Othman, from the Civil Defense Directorate in Mosul, was at the scene and told us: “I cannot describe the scene. Very ugly sight. People were martyred, burned and injured, and some bodies were completely mutilated. I don't know how the people will recognize these bodies. Ambulance teams and police rushed to the scene, and I recovered 35 bodies alone. Mosul hospitals cannot handle this huge number of injured people.”[/size]
[size=45]Othman adds: “It is worth noting that the reconstruction process in Mosul is incomplete. Mosul is a disaster-stricken city that has been exposed to many problems and terrorism. Therefore, until now, the health infrastructure is not prepared and is not like other health systems in other governorates of Iraq. Unfortunately, most of our buildings are in violation of public safety. As a civil defense, we issue instructions and warnings to owners of buildings, shops, and halls that their buildings comply with the conditions of the state and civil defense, but no one applies these instructions. “It is as if they are waiting for a major disaster to happen.”[/size]
[size=45]Samir Abdullah, an eyewitness who was at the wedding, says: “The issue of fire occurs everywhere, but the problem with this hall (the wedding hall) is that there is only one exit. Imagine: 1,200 people, one door, and a fire breaks out. We saw the ceiling falling on us. It was made of canvas and the door was made of light wood. One door was not enough for everyone to escape. We saw death with our own eyes. We witnessed the death of our loved ones by fire, burning and suffocation. One of my friends lost five members of his family. Five people from one house died in one night.”
Martin Hanna, 32, a fire survivor at the wedding, describes: “We saw the fire hitting us from the hall. Whoever managed to get out got out, and whoever did not, unfortunately remained stuck. Even those who succeeded in getting out had very serious injuries.”
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Qutaiba, an eyewitness and volunteer from the Hamdaniya district, was present from the first minutes of the fire. He told BBC News Arabic: “I remember clearly. Ten o'clock at night: It was a dark night for the people of the area. The sound of groaning was heard in all the alleys. We believe that the use of fireworks in the hall led to the fire, and the design of the hall did not comply with safety requirements and the firefighting system was not working well. There is talk that the gas was expired.”[/size]
[size=45]The newlyweds were dancing when “fireworks started to rise to the ceiling and the entire hall caught fire,” according to a survivor who spoke to BBC News Arabic.[/size]
[size=45]One of the guests said, crying: “We could not see anything, we were suffocating, and we did not know how to get out of there.”[/size]
[size=45]What do we know about Al-Hamdaniya district?
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A fire broke out last night in Al-Haytham Hall, located on the outskirts of the town of Qaraqosh.[/size]
[size=45]It is also known as “Baghdida”, and it is the main center of Al-Hamdaniya district and is located about 15 kilometers southeast of the city of Mosul.[/size]
[size=45]Its population is about 50,000 people, most of them Assyrians - who fled after ISIS took control of it in 2014.[/size]
[size=45]ISIS fighters committed numerous atrocities against the Christians who remained before Iraqi and US-led coalition forces expelled them in 2016. They also desecrated and burned the ancient Church of the Immaculate Conception, the largest in Iraq, and burned more than 2,000 homes.[/size]
[size=45]About half of Qaraqosh's population is said to have returned since the group was eliminated from the city, and the main church in the area has been restored ahead of Pope Francis' reception in 2021. But many of the destroyed homes have not yet been rebuilt.[/size]
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